Ball-receptacle for pocket-billiard tables



1. s. TREW. v BALL RECEPTACLE FOR POCKET BILLIARD TABLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, I918.

1,335,924. Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

mm Jamar J5 TfieW I JAMES S. TREW, OF SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARRY C.

BURKE, OF SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA.

BALL-RECEPTACLB FOR POCKET-BILLIARD TABLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 7. 1918. Serial No. 261,515. I

ful Improvements in Ball-Receptacles for Pocket-Billiard Tables, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ball receptacles particularly for pocket billiardtables and the like; and it is an object of the invention to provide a device which will automatically deliver balls from the gully box below the table into the ball basket when the basket is in place and automatically prevent. exit of the balls from the gully box when the basket is not in place.

In a preferred form of device embodying this invention, the mere act of placing the basket in place will release whatever balls are then standing in the gully box; and the mere action of removing the basket will prevent further release of the balls from' the box. Thus the player, by merely placing the basket in place, collects the balls which he has shot into the table pockets and then he may pick up the basket with the balls therein and carry them to the ball rack. place the basket in place below the gully box and then to open the door or valve in the lower end of the box to allow the balls to escape into the basket; and then the balls have usually been taken up by hand and carried to the ball rack. It is a general object of this invention to provide a convenient means for removing balls from the gully box and carrying them to the ball rack in the same receptacle which is used to automatically release the balls into that receptacle when placed in proper position at the gully box.

The invention will be best understood" from the following detailed description of a preferred form of device, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanya ing drawings in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an end of a pocket billiard table showingmy invention as it appears in use; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan showing my improved gully box mechanism; Fig. 3

Heretofore it has been necessary to is an end elevation of the gully box showing the ball basket in place; and Flg. 4 is a vertical section taken as indicated by line 4-4 on Fig. 3.

In the drawings the numeral 10 desig nates any ordinary billiard table having the usual pockets l1 and having gully box 12 in which the balls are delivered by return chutes which lead down from the )ockets.

This gully box 12 may, except as hereinafter I described, be of any of the ordinary forms; in fact my invention is applicable to any of the gully boxes of an ordinary pocket billiard table. Usually the gully box 12 has an opening on its floor near its outer end and this opening is closed by a spring-actuated door or slider or valve; and in order to release the balls from the box the player usually pulls upon a handle or actuatesf some lever or other to move this spring-ac tua-ted door or valve to open the bottom opening of the box and allow the balls to fall into the basket which is suspended below. Now instead of making the delivery wholly in the bottom of the gully box I preferably make the delivery opening, as

Patented Apr.6, 1920.

shown at 15, partly in the bottom of thebox and partly in the end wall 16 thereof, so that a ball must roll longitudinally ofthe trough in order to reach the delivery opening at. the end of the box." Normally the balls, shown at B, are kept from reaching the delivery opening by a small pivoted stop or buffer 20which is mounted on the end of a buffer arm 21 pivoted at 22 on the end wall 16 and this buffer arm has an-outward extension 23 which is bent upwardly and is adapted to carry the basket or other receptacle 24 by the bail 25 of the receptacle being hung over the arm 23. The'proportions and weights of the parts are such that when the empty basket 24 is hung in the position shown in' Fig. 4, then the parts 21,

23, are moved into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4:, the buffer 20 being moved up high enough so that the balls B I may roll under the buffer and through the outlet and into the basket 24. Basket 24: is made of such a size as to easily accommodate the maximum number of balls usually preseud atany one time in the gully box, say fifteen. In fact the basket is of the usual size. But whereas, with the ordinary basket this opening act as a few of the last balls will always roll out of the basket due to the fact that the balls do not drop into the center of the basket; in my invention the balls always drop into the central part of the basket, due to the position of opening 15. As soon as a player has finished his round of play, if he has not already placed the basket 24: in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4-, and if the balls B have therefore not already rolled into the basket, he then places the basket in that position and thereby releases the balls by raising the buffer 20, when the balls immediately roll into the basket. He then removes the basket to carry the balls to the ball rack. The removal of the basket automatically allows the buffer 20 to fall to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, thus preventing all balls which are put down by the immediately following player rolling out through the opening 15 while the basket is not in place. The player, having emptied his balls into the ball rack, may then immediately place the basket in position again, or the next player, when he has finished his round, may place the basket in position to receive the balls which he has put down.

It will be noted that arm 23 projects through an opening 30 in the front wall 16 of the trough and in a small plate 31 which is aHiXed to the front surface of the wall of the gully boX. The upper and lower ends'of stops to limit the movement of members 21, 23, the part 23 striking the upper end of this opening 30 when the buffer 20 is in its lowermost position and in position to intercept a ball B, and the part 23 striking the lower end of the opening 30 when the buffer 20 is in its raised position ready to pass a ball B. It will be noted that these limits of movement are made such that the buffer does not move any Y farther than is necessary to accomplish the desired result, the buffer preferably not moving very high above the ball; and also moving only to or slightly below the center of the ball when in the position shown in dotted lines. In contact with the ball at or slightly below its center, the weight of balls behind the foremost ball does not tend to raise the buffer.

Having described a preferred form of my;

boX and on which the basket is hung and the other arm of which projects inside the gully box in the path of the balls on their way to the outlet opening.

2. In combination with a pocket billiard table gully box having an outlet opening at its end, a pivoted stop arm pivoted at the end of the gully box, a buffer mounted on the end of the stop arm and adapted normally to stand in position to intercept a ball on its way to the outlet opening"; an extension of said arm projecting outside the box and forming a hook upon which a ball basket may be hung, and said ballbasket comprising a receptacle, a bail attached to said receptacle and adapted to be hung upon said projecting arm, and a handle for the receptacle extending above the bail and by which the receptacle may be manually lifted.

3. In combination with a pocket billiard table gully box having a ball outlet opening, a movable ball. stop member, and a movable basket supporting member adapted to support a ball receiving'basket below the outlet opening and adapted by its movement to move the ball stop member; thebasket sup- J porting member being movable by the weight of a ball receiving basket placed thereon.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of October 1918.

JAMES 's. TREW.

Vitness V l VIRGINIA BERINGER. 

